Given the recent reduction in social media standards by both Facebook and Twitter X, a call by independent MP Kylea Tink for new laws to limit access to digital technology for DFV perpetrators and a national strategy to tackle technology-facilitated abuse is timely and crucial. 

Technology-facilitated abuse is everywhere, and it’s quickly becoming one of the most insidious forms of domestic violence. According to the e-Safety Commissioner, 4 in 5 Australian women have experienced or are experiencing some form of technology-facilitated abuse. A recent NSW Crime Commission report found that 1 in 4 people who purchased GPS tracking devices since 2023 have a history of domestic violence.

A roundtable in North Sydney brought together sector leaders, frontline workers, experts and advocates to address technology-facilitated abuse.   The resulting report outlines 12 recommendations calling for new laws to limit access to technology for perpetrators rather than placing the onus on the victim to limit their technology use together with education programs and training courses for service providers, women’s shelters, lawyers, the judiciary, police and schools.